Thank You Austin! We are honored to be voted Austin’s Best Dry Cleaner by the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll! Our staff and our customers are amazing!

Removing Fabric Pills From Your Garments

Fabric pilling is frustrating, but it can be fixed most of the time! If you’re at home and looking for a way to fix it, start with your razor! Razors do a great job of removing fabric pills, but you have to be very careful when doing so to protect the integrity material and prevent from “shaving too thin.” Click here for more.

Shoutout: City Of Austin Small Business Lighting Rebate

We’d like to thank the City of Austin for supporting small business and allowing us to participate in their Small Business Lighting Program. The program is simple, effortless, best of all, you receive heavily discounted lighting upgrades to your facility. The ROI is quick and measurable without a 3rd party. The bright new lights helped us fight more stains! Check out Rick’s on South Lamar in a promo video that was featured at the 2018 Armadillo Awards for the Austin Independent Business Alliance! #buylocal #austin #flashinglights #austinbiz

Protect Your Clothes While Soaking Up the Sun

Sometimes even the most innocent-looking products can bring worry to your relaxation wardrobe. Ward off unnecessary stress with these quick tips.

Antiperspirant
Potential Problem: Build-up from deodorant and antiperspirant products can cause fiber damage and yellowing. Blue and green on silk and wool are particularly prone. Aluminum chloride can weaken fibers in cotton, linen, rayon, and some synthetic blends, leaving holes during cleaning.
Clothing Care: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for application. Avoid overuse and allow antiperspirant/deodorant to dry before dressing. Soiled garments should be washed or dry cleaned as soon as possible.

Sunblock and Suntan Lotions
Potential Problem: Dyes and oils in suntan/sunblock lotions can stain clothing. This color loss or change may not appear until after you clean your clothes.
Clothing Care: Avoid many stains by following the directions on the bottle, allow the lotions to dry before dressing, and wash your hands before handling clothes.

Self-Tanning Lotions
Potential Problem: Self-tanners may discolor anything they touch! Light tan, brown, or yellow staining on the cuffs, collar fold, and neckband, and upper button areas, are typical.
Clothing Care: Follow the instructions carefully, being sure to wash your hands immediately and allow your skin time to dry before dressing. If the product gets on your clothes, wash them as soon as possible, as these stains can be difficult to remove.

Insect Repellents
Potential Problem: Repellents usually will not damage most fibers; however, some products contain alcohol and can cause color loss or color change on fabrics such as acetate and rayon.
Clothing Care: Read the label carefully, especially if applying directly to clothing.

Rick’s Cleaners is a Top 3 Finalist for 2018 Austin American Statesman Best of the Best!

Preliminary results are in, and Rick’s was voted one of the top 3 finalists for the 2018 Best Dry Cleaners in Austin by the Austin American Statesman! This contest features all kinds of businesses, and allows them a chance to showcase themselves in their respective category. Winners are announced next month! Good luck to other local Austin businesses in the running! #bestofthebest #localdrycleaner #statesman

Recycle Your Hangers at Rick’s!

Do you have wire hangers taking up too much closet space? Load them up and bring them to Rick’s! A new customer of ours called this week to see if we would recycle her wire hangers because it was crowding her closet space. We’re happy to recycle them for you! We have convenient hanger stands in each of our lobbies, and have been recycling hangers and plastics (poly bags used to cover your clothing) for years!

Sad Fact: Huffington Post says on average, Americans throw away 81 pounds per year in clothing and textiles. That amounts to 26 billion pounds of textiles and clothes ending up in landfills, but it doesn’t have to be like that =(. Donating unwanted clothes helps people and stimulates the economy at the same time! The article states that “contributing to the secondhand industry helps to infuse money into the economy. By extending the life cycle of secondhand clothing, the reuse industry employs nearly 100,000 workers and creates $1 billion in wages in the U.S. alone.”

Home Remedies for Lipstick, Gum, and Chocolate

We get questions all of the time about home stain removal tips. Here are three home stain remedies we can share. You should know that trained professionals with specialized equipment can give their garments the best chance of a full restoration, BUT its fun to give it shot!

LipstickOne home remedy for removing lipstick is to rub the stain with white bread. This may help, but it will leave behind some bread crumbs which may get embedded in the fibers of a soft fabric. A better technique is to use cleaning fluid. Place the stain face down on clean white paper towels. Apply cleaning fluid to the back of the stain and blot. Replace towels frequently. Dry thoroughly. If the stain is still visible, use a synthetic detergent and water.

GumTo remove gum, harden the area with an ice cube and gently lift off any large pieces. Do not scrape with sharp objects that may damage fabric. Wet with cleaning fluid over a clean, white paper towel to remove the final traces. Another method is to use peanut butter. The oils will help “unstick” the gum. After a few minutes, the gum can be lifted off the fabric with a napkin or paper towel. Then wash the item using normal washing procedures. However, we caution you that oil from the peanut butter may leave stains (which can be removed with drycleaning).

ChocolateChocolate contains oils and sugars, both of which are difficult to remove. Blot with cold water. Apply an enzyme detergent and rinse with water. If the stain persists after this process, apply a household ammonia and rinse thoroughly. Do not apply ammonia to silk or wool fabrics. If the garment can be safely bleached, your customer’s final resort at home may be to bleach the area.

How Dry Cleaning Works: A Video Shot On Site at Rick’s Facility!

Here is a behind the scenes look at what happens after you drop off your clothing at a cleaners! We take pride in work involved in caring for your clothes! Have questions? Send us your thoughts on our "Contact Us" page.